Remarkably fast diesels | Six of the Best
It is more expensive than ever to refuel from the black pump - so it better be worth it, right?
Porsche Panamera 4S, 2017, 89k, £32,990
You don’t have to go back very far in the car industry annals to find a time when the idea of a fast diesel would be risible. Oil burners were once the preserve of sooty black cabs and tired old bin lorries; the idea of them wafting you to 60mph in a pleasing head rush was about as realistic as using a large spring to put mankind in orbit. But then, with what seemed like precious little buildup, a perfect storm of wider economic concerns, legislation and technical developments made diesel engines not just very good, but good enough even for the likes of Porsche and Bentley. So good in fact, that if we were choosing a used Panamera to crush continents in today, the V8-powered 4S is genuinely the car we’d buy. Gravelly thrust at its finest - and available here and now for a smidge over £30k.
Alpina D5, 2012, 71k, PH Auction
One rung below the Porsche - or possibly equivalent to it if you prefer six cylinders to eight - is pretty much any big oil burner that Alpina ever breathed on. Buchloe recognised early on that the torque-happy performance a modern diesel engine provides was the perfect foil for its comfort-focused approach to chassis tuning, and the combination produced a rash of long-distance heroes. Accordingly, you can’t really miss with a D5, which in F10 format gets 352hp and 516lb ft of torque from a modified N57. Less than the mighty Porsche, perhaps, yet sufficient for a sustained 171mph on the right road. This one looks in great nick and is due to go under the PH hammer this coming Tuesday.
Range Rover TDV8, 2012, 37k, £34,995
While a used Range Rover should absolutely be on your fast diesel shortlist, we’d actually intended to draw your attention to the L405, based on its superior handling. But this one-owner, late-model L322 was too good to ignore. Yes, they’ve enjoyed a Clarkson Farm-based price bump, and few people would describe the ownership experience as faultless - but a 4.4-litre Vogue with just 37k on the clock is old-school (albeit BMW-owned) Land Rover at its finest. Granted, in another life the same V8 was a Ford truck engine, but you won’t think about that much while driving. You’ll be too busy dreamily staring out of the window and absorbing admiring glances from posh girls on horseback. A charming British rose among German thorns, in other words.
Audi S6 Avant, 2022, 28k, £47,985
Of course, if you’d rather proceed somewhere quickly incognito, you can hardly go wrong with an upmarket Audi - especially those with an S badge on the boot lid. The last S6 seemed like a throwback when it launched with a diesel V6 (and in many ways it was), but that just means you get all the things that make a speedy oil burning wagon good to own: usability, practicality, economy and 0-62mph in five seconds-ish. This one is barely run-in on that scale, though its freshness means you’ll still need to part with the best part of £50k to put it on the driveway. Obviously there are more exciting ways to spend that cash - but we’re not talking about heartstrings here. Quite the opposite.
Mercedes E 450d, 2024, 14k, £62,500
If you’re adamant it must be something from the current crop of cars that still fit the bill, you can hardly do better than the latest E 450d. Mercedes track record on diesel cars is no less storied than its German rivals, and the W214, as well as being very pleasant to drive, adds mild hybridisation to the attribute list. Also, courtesy of its 3.0-litre straight six, you get 372hp and 553lb ft of torque - the latter sufficient to rival the current E53. Matt Bird called it Mercedes at its most persuasive when we drove one back in 2024. Expect the same, but for around £20k less than it cost when new. Bargain.
Maserati Quattroporte, 2017, 28k, £23,000
Well, we say ‘bargain’ - if you really don’t want to pay much at all (comparatively speaking), the Maserati Quattroporte might be your best bet. True, the omnipresent VM Motori-built V6 is not going to shatter any performance records - and friends and enemies alike might point out that you missed out on one of the great V8s by choosing the diesel variant - yet the sheer left-field-ish-ness of it arguably makes it worth a second look. That and the fact it costs just £23k to bag yourself a lightly used example from 2017. Or possibly less than that if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed to shipping for much longer...
and have owned 2 from this list.
ETA, not cheaper, for comparable mileage, it turns out.
Whenever I read these used selection articles I always find the cars are more expensive than I would have thought, and that isn't any different here!
(And wot, no Skoda Favia VRS?
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